Raya and Sirius spent the rest of Christmas with the Marauders, before going on their honeymoon in January.
They spent several weeks travelling around Europe, before returning to their responsibilities back in Britain.
Now that Raya had completed her training with Moody, Dumbledore felt that she was ready for more dangerous assignments.
The boys weren't happy with this, but Raya was more than willing to show that she was just as capable as the rest of the Order.
At first, she didn't like hurting her opponents, as there is a big difference between throwing knives at targets on the wall, and hitting real people.
But as the months went on, Raya got tougher, and stopped holding back.
Since Raya couldn't rely on a wand to save her, she had other tricks up her sleeve to keep her safe.
She had an enchanted red coat, which repelled most spells, except for Unforgivable Curses, until the enchantment wore off. And her knives were also enchanted, so that they would return to her hand, when she wore the golden ring that they were connected to. Her knives could also be used to deflect most minor spells, if she was quick enough to block them.
One evening, Raya was running through an abandoned building, that the death eaters had been using as a safe house, to hold their meetings in.
She hadn't gone alone, as Peter and a few other Order members had gone with her.
But she had lost sight of them a while back, meaning that she was on her own with no way out, as she couldn't apparate, due to her lack of magic.
Raya had 2 death eaters on her tail, so she couldn't stop to catch her breath, she had to keep running through the maze of corridors.
As she turned a corner, she threw one of her knives over her shoulder, hoping to hit one of her enemies.
She couldn't stop to see if she had hit her target, but she heard the sound of a man drop to the floor, signalling that she had been successful.
Raya then flicked the wrist of the hand of the finger she had the golden ring on, and a moment later, her knife flew back into her hand.
When Raya reached the next corridor, she swore, as she realised how long it was.
The more twists and turns there were, the harder it was for the death eaters to hit her with their spells. But if the path was straight, it lowered her chances of survival.
"You can't run forever!" Shouted an angry voice from behind her.
A second later she felt a spell hit her coat. She could feel something hit her, but the spell didn't work, as the coat repelled it.
Raya heard another spell flying through the air towards her head, so she ducked, allowing the spell to hit the far wall instead of her.
Realising that Raya's coat was keeping her alive, the death eater sent his next spell at her legs, which were unprotected.
Raya was thrown across the corridor, when the spell hit her, and she banged her head on the hard stone floor.
Her vision went blurry, and the room around her began to spin.
She flipped herself over in time to see the death eater advancing on her.
Raya waited until her enemy was closer, before throwing the knife straight at their chest.
Raya watched as the death eater dropped to the ground, in a pool of their own blood.
After retrieving her knife, she began crawling to the nearest door, as she felt too weak and woozy to stand up.
She managed to push open the large wooden door, and army crawl inside the next room, before slamming the door shut with her foot.
As blood fell in front of her eyes, she began to feel nauseous.
She was also starting to lose consciousness, and a few moments later, she passed out on the floor.
****
Severus Snape flicked his wand, causing the door in front of him to swing open.
He then strode into the next room, where he saw Raya lying on the floor, not moving.
After dropping down to her side, Severus began to assess her injuries.
The only wound he could see was the deep cut on her forehead. He just prayed that she wasn't bleeding in her brain, and that she didn't have a cracked skull, as those things were hard to fix.
He picked up her wrist and found that her pulse was weak and her skin was too cold for his liking, but he knew that she was a survivor, so would fight until her last breath.
Severus placed his wand tip beside the deep gash on her head, and began muttering a healing incantation.
A few minutes later, Raya's eyes fluttered open, and she gasped when she saw him.
"Severus" mumbled Raya groggily, as she tried to push herself up.
"I would lie still if I were you" warned Severus.
"What, so that you can kill me?" Questioned Raya.
"Do you really think I just saved your life, only to kill you again a few minutes later?"
"I don't know how your death eater brain works... If you aren't going to kill me, then I expect you want to take me to your master".
"I will not be taking you to the dark lord" informed Severus, as he stood to his feet.
"Why not?" Demanded Raya, as she slowly sat up.
"Because, in case you have forgotten, I owe you a life debt. You saved me from your brother all those years ago, and I promised to one day return the favour. I told you that there would come a time when your precious friends would desert you, and I was right. Because they are nowhere to be found, and if I hadn't of come along, you would be dead" admitted Severus.
"Peter is around here somewhere" mumbled Raya.
"That coward ran off the second things got too scary for him. He left you to die"
"You don't know what you're talking about".
"Don't I? Well, I know that you were both lured here, so that the dark lord could capture you and gain the information he seeks" revealed Severus.
"What does he want from me, besides the obvious answer which is information on the Order?" Quizzed Raya.
"He wants the location of a certain friend of yours" informed Severus.
"He's after James, because he wants to kill Harry"
"Correct. You and Pettigrew are seen as the weakest in the group, which is why you two were lured to this location"
"Everyone always underestimates me. But I can hold my own. I expect you saw several bodies on the way here, all of which were taken out by me"
"I did see them. I'm sure they'll survive after receiving medical attention, but you succeeded in incapacitating them. However, you did almost get yourself killed in the process. Which is why I need to get you out of here, and to St Mungo's".
Severus attempted to bend down and put his arms around Raya, but she pushed him away.
"You must be a fool if you think I'd go anywhere with you" snapped Raya.
Severus rolled his eyes, "Can't you just trust me for one minute, I did save your life afterall".
"I am perfectly capable of walking on my own" insisted Raya, as she tried to stand up.
"No, you're really not" informed Severus.
As Raya took a tentative step forward, her eyes rolled back in her head.
Severus stepped forward and caught her, with one hand under her back and the other under her legs.
"If you even say I told you so, I will punch you in the face" threatened Raya.
"Consider me warned" sighed Severus, as he began to carry Raya out of the room.
"You know, if you take me to St Mungo's, it's going to make you look a bit guilty, as this is a death eater lair afterall, and the healers will want to know what you were doing here" admitted Raya.
"I will not be taking you to the hospital. Once we are outside, I'll summon Dumbledore with my Patronus, and he can take you off my hands" replied Severus.
"I didn't know death eaters could perform the Patronus charm"
"I am the only one who can".
"Why will Dumbledore come if you summon him? You are the enemy afterall" reminded Raya.
"Trust me, he will. You know Dumbledore, he is all about second chances. He didn't hesitate to forgive me, when I asked for his help in the past" replied Severus.
"Does your dark lord know you are in contact with Dumbledore?" Asked Raya.
"Of course not"
"Why are you telling me this then, when I could rat you out?"
"Because you have a bad concussion, and you have lost a lot of blood, so I have a feeling you won't remember any of this conversation anyway"
"Of course I will. I won't forget you saving my life"
"I bet you will. In fact, I don't think you will be able to stay awake much longer, before you pass out again".
"You wanna bet, Snivellus?" Yawned Raya, before resting her head onto Severus's shoulder, and falling asleep.
Once outside, Severus placed her onto the ground, and checked her pulse once more. It was strong this time, so he felt sure she would make a full recovery.
Severus then summoned Dumbledore with his doe Patronus and waited for the headmaster to turn up.
"Severus, what has happened?" Questioned Dumbledore, when he apparated to them.
"Your little army was ambushed. I managed to get Raya out, but she sustained a bad head injury. So, I suggest you take her to St Mungo's to get checked out" answered Severus.
He then began to walk away, leaving Raya's unconscious body with Dumbledore.
"Oh, and next time, think more carefully about sending someone as vulnerable as her out on dangerous missions. She's not a witch, no matter how much she pretends to be one" continued Severus.
"She's the one who insists on being assigned risky tasks" informed Dumbledore.
"Then next time, tell her no. Because next time, I might not be able to get there in time to save her" admitted Severus.
"She doesn't like being kept out of the action. But I will try to keep her safe in the future" replied Dumbledore.
"You do that... See you later, Dumbledore"
"Goodbye Severus".